The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "airport security" ...
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Freedom/Fear
"This story is a comprehensive survey of how post-September 11th security measures have impacted life in all its facets across New York City, from the workplace to the library to the airport to the courtroom to Muslim neighborhoods to political protests."
Tags: Arabic; NYPD; anti-terrorism; civil liberties; Patriot Act;
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Airport Security
"On several occasion, Fox2 discovered open and unattended perimeter gates that appeared to lead to the runways of Lambert St. Louis International Airport. When we alerted security, the Airport Police Chief said it was not a problem because of 'layered security.' Several months later, a homeless man reportedly walked through one of those gates and boarded an airplane. An airline employee found him sleeping on a plane."
Tags: security breach; airline; public parking; Paul Mason;
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Air Marshals: Undercover and Under Arrest
The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making life-and-death decisions that demand sound judgment. ProPublica found that dozens of air marshals have been charged with crimes, including 18 felonies, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases include smuggling drugs past airport security, aiding a human trafficking ring, child sex abuse, bribery, drunken driving, domestic violence, holding an escort against her will during an overnight layover, solicitation to commit murder and voyeurism after one air marshal was caught taking photos of women's genitals on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Tags: air marshals; Transportation Safety Agency; human trafficking; child sex abuse; drunken driving; domestic violence; criminal convictions
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Deficient Deicing
An investigation of Servisair International, the largest deicing contractor at Denver International Airport, showed that the company was cheating and taking short cuts in training of aircraft deicers. They were also falsifying documents allowing untrained workers to drive around the airfield. All of which are safety violations.
Tags: aviation; planes; Servisair International; deicing; security; safety; employee training;
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Access to Steal
KIRO-TV investigated the security flaws in airports "that allow baggage handlers to enter luggage storage areas, steal items, then remove the goods from the property." The investigative teams also "tracked dozens of missing handguns, stolen by criminals, who had direct access to loaded passenger jets."
Tags: airports; security; theft; baggage; hidden camera; luggage; handguns; property
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Airport Insecurity
With the help of a whistle blower, KOMO-TV showed that airport security was lax when it came to maintaining security among airport staff. Outfitting the "whistle blower with a hidden camera and on different days and times of days, [the] whistle blower went into every secure area of the airport without once being checked, or questioned." As a result of this report, TSA announced that it would screen all employees.
Tags: airport; security; whistle blower; hidden camera; Transportation Security Administration; Port Authority; TSA; employees
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Airport Insecurity
KHOU-TV found that while "commercial airports all over the country had been forced to make millions of dollars in security upgrades, smaller general aviation airports remained unchanged" since 9/11. The station also found that terrorists wouldn't need to crash a plane into a building in Houston, but could do more damage by crashing it into containers of toxic chemicals.
Tags: terrorism; airports; security; toxic chemicals; terrorist attacks; Houston; commercial airlines; private planes; Texas
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Sky Harbor Security Risks
This investigation exposed major security lapses at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in the country. Reporters posed as passengers and used hidden cameras to film unchecked bags being allowed into the secure site of the airport. The story had immediate consequences; the TSA took over operations at the airport and corrected the security problems.
Tags: transportation; hidden camera; airplane; federal government; TSA
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Airport-security system in U.S. riddled with errors
This is the first part of a three part series which explores the short comings of airport security. In this part, blatant security breaches, such as unscreened bags and weapons in checked luggage, are reported.
Tags: airport; transportation; airplane; TSA
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The Red Team
"Nearly six years after 9/11, classified test results leaked to 9NEWs show Transportation Security Administration screeners at Denver International Airport failed to find about 80% of weapons, like bombs and liquid explosives, carried by federal undercover agents called the Red Team. Denver is just one of many airports nationwide that are failing the tests, according to the Dept. of Homeland Security's OIG and US Government Accountability Office."
Tags: airports; security; homeland security; transport security association; TSA; bombs; weapons; flight safety